I woke up this morning to the news that the
majority in Britain voted to leave the EU, the British pound is plummeting, UK
and US futures taking a dive.
This after the US Supreme Court blocked
Barack Obama's Immigration reforms and after months and months and five more to
go of rancid attacks on Hillary Clinton; years and years of vile trash thrown
at Barack Obama, one of the best presidents America has ever had; the world's
stupidest and nasty-ugliest man elevated to a position of power; the eruption to
the surface of xenophobia, racism, homophobia, bigotry of every sort.
A mountain of misinformation fed into
cyberspace, driven by rage and soaked up greedily until it has solidified in
too many minds as truth.
A world of angry people justifying their vitriol
with very flimsy excuses, but really just looking for something, somebody, to
hurt. Basking in the paradise that social media is for them. That world, which
we've lauded as being the platform for profound connection and shared information
has turned into the world of bullshit and persecution.
Even on the home front I was excluded from my father's genealogy chart and family tree, dared to speak my
mind and stand my ground and was iced out and ganged up against in a way that's
reminiscent of mean children in the schoolyard but that didn't make it any less
painful.
The NYT featured something I wrote and I
got 493 comments, 90% from Bernie Sanders supporters, many raging at me. For voicing my opinion. Some even friended me on FB—solely to
attack me or my ideas.
That reaction didn't actually bother me. But overall it's a bloody depressing picture. I sat
down to have coffee and thought at times like this you have to remember that, personally
and societally, the part of us that has the balls to carry on in the face of
obstacles, determined to triumph, is more powerful than the part that gets
discouraged when we falter, or the world around us does.
The immediate effects of Britain choosing
to leave the EU are scary. Will they last, will Europe and Britain fall apart,
will this decision trigger off a world recession? I don't think so, any more
than I think Europe will suddenly stop trading with Britain. The trade is as
important to Europe as it is to the UK. The EU has said if Britain chooses to
leave it won't get another chance but I don't really believe that either. There
were a lot of scare tactics used on both sides and the press is going to have
perpetual orgasm on worst case scenarios for a while but they aren't
necessarily a reflection of what's to come.
As I drank my coffee, thinking about my own
life and the world around me, I felt grateful for my capacity to speak out even
if it draws fire and not be demolished by it; grateful for the part of me that
believes good triumphs over evil.
Very grateful for my coffee, that I have
work, a roof over my head. I opened up the NYT. When headlines are raging about
everything under the sun that is disgusting about humanity, there's one that
shines. Led by a man of great stature, Representative John Lewis, US Democrats
staged a passionate sit-in in the Senate to protest against Republican refusal
to pass sane gun measures. I call that heroism. And it's enough to restore my
belief in humanity.
